The Life Saver
by peytona05
Summary: The Diffys are forced to trust Mr. Hackett with their secret.
1. Chapter 1

"Phil, what's going on? On the phone you sounded like there was an emergency."

Phil looked at his best friend. "Curtis ran away. I was taking him out for his walk, but he got away from me. I saw him go into Mr. Hackett's flower garden, and I need you to help me get him out."

"Sure," Keely responded, "but why do you need help? Why don't you go get him yourself?"

"Mr. Hackett's garden is right by his kitchen. If he's in the kitchen, I don't want him to see me in his backyard anymore than I want him to see Curtis. Mr. Hackett already thinks my family is strange; he doesn't need to know how different we really are. I'll distract; you take care of Curtis."

"How?"

Phil shrugged as he began walking towards the front of his neighbor's house. "I don't know, Keel, just get him out of there."

She stood scratching her head for a moment, then smiled as an idea popped into her head. Keely quickly went into the Diffys' house and headed for the kitchen.

xxxxx

He'd heard noises in his backyard before, and every so often he would wait in his kitchen for sounds of a late-night visitor. As he watched from his kitchen window, Mr. Hackett had his suspicions that the intruder was coming from next door. He didn't trust the Diffys, always felt they were trying to hide something. And being of a nosy disposition, the vice principal intended to find out what.

Mr. Hackett glanced at the clock; it was a quarter past eleven. He turned from the window to head to his bedroom,and as he did so, so he thought he saw movement in the bushes. Heading for his backdoor, he was reaching for the handle when the front doorbell rang.

He gave a frustrated sigh. "Who could be that at this time of night?"

Mr. Hackett walked through his house to the front door, and gazing through the peephole, he saw Phil standing there. He opened the door and asked, "You're up awfully late, aren't you?"

The boy appeared nervous. "I know it's late, Mr. Hackett. But I'm having some trouble...sleeping,and I was wondering if I could...borrow a book."

Mr. Hackett eyed his young neighbor suspiciously. "Come in. I need to check on something, but I'll get a book for you momentarily."

"Mr. Hackett, my parents don't know I'm gone," Phil said quickly. "I'd hate for them to wake up, check on me, and find my bed empty."

The vice principal supressed a groan. "Oh, all right; come along. Would you prefer fiction or non-fiction?"

"Do you have any poetry?" Phil's cell phone buzzed, and pulling it out of his pocket, he saw that Keely had texted him. GOT HIM, the message read. "Uh, never mind, Mr. Hackett. Thank you!"

With that, Phil rushed out of the house, leaving Mr. Hackett confused and more suspicious than before.

xxxxx

Walking into his backyard, Phil saw Curtis sitting cross-legged on the ground, gnawing on a bone.

"Where did he get that?" Phil wanted to know.

"I found some porkchops marinating in your refrigerator. I took one next door and he came right to me." Keely smiled at her accomplishment.

Her friend smiled back as he joined Curtis on the ground. Patting the caveman on the back, Phil said, "Curtis, you look like you're really enjoying that."

Curtis grunted and burped his approval. "'Scuse me."

Phil and Keely laughed quietly. He mouthed a "thank you" to her and watched her leave. Then he looked back at Curtis. "What happened tonight? You know better than to run away from me."

Curtis gave the boy a sorrowful look. "Sorry, Phil. But flowers so tasty."

Phil was confused for a moment. "Tasty flowers?" Then it dawned on him. "Curtis, you didn't..."

The cave man sheepishly looked away before turning his gaze to the fence that separated the Diffys' property from Mr. Hackett's.

Phil quickly ran to the fence and looked into his neighbor's backyard. "Oh no..."

xxxxx

After Phil left the house, Mr. Hackett returned to the kitchen and opened his back door. Going into the yard, he cautiously looked around for any sign of an intruder. It was then that he saw his flower garden-it had been dstroyed! Full plants had been pulled up, and several were missing flowers looked as though they had been chewed up and spit backout.

Mr. Hackett glanced around his garden again. He wanted to somehow blame the Diffys for the destruction of his flowers, but he knew that he would need proof before throwing accusations at people. He decided that he would pay the Diffys a visit the next day after school.


	2. Chapter 2

It wasn't typical of him to leave as soon as the final bell rang, but he wanted to get to the Diffys' house quickly. Much like his garden used to be, Mr. Hackett's nosy nature was in full bloom, and he was anxious to find out if his neighbors knew anything about his late-night visitor.

In all honesty, he hadn't been able to focus on his job at all. He'd been tempted several times throughout the day to leave school and go straight to Lloyd to demand the truth about his family.

There was something odd about his neighbors; Mr. Hackett knew that much. Personally, he thought they were aliens. But how could he report them to the authorities without sounding like an idiot?

He'd spent the last hour of school counting down the minutes until the final bell. As soon as it had sounded, he'd quickly exited the building, heading straight for his neighborhood.

Mr. Hackett walked the short path to the Diffys' front door. He knocked and waited a few moments. When no one answered, he knocked again. Still no one came to the door. He glanced over his shoulder in both directions before proceeding to pick the lock. He entered the house and shut the door behind him. Walking from room to room, Mr. Hackett saw nothing out of the ordinary.

_No alien weapons, no alien literature, no diabolical plans to overtake the world. What kind of neighbors do I have anyway?_

It occurred to him that perhaps the Diffys were in fact normal people.

_Yeah right. There's nothing normal about this family. I know they're hiding something!_

It was then that Mr. Hackett entered the garage. On the wall was a shelf full of tools that the vice principal had never seen before. He took one down and pushed a button. The opposite wall changed colors, going from a dull gray to a bright pink. He couldn't believe his eyes. Pushing the button again, Mr. Hackett saw dark green stripes appear on the wall. He blinked and rubbed his eyes; the wall still looked the same. He tried pushing the button a third time, which gave the wall a rainbow-colored coat of paint.

Mr. Hackett decided to stop experimenting with something he didn't know anything about, so he put the unknown gadget back. He took hold of one that resembled a handheld video game. Turning a knob and pushing a button, he thought that nothing had happened. He glanced down at the ground and noticed that he was no longer wearing the same clothes he had been a few moments before.

He returned that tool to the shelf as well. He began backing up and bumped into Lloyd's tool box. Anxious to leave but curious to see what was inside, Mr. Hackett hastily lifted the lid and saw a machine that had wires coming out of it and a few blinking lights.

He didn't even bother closing the box quietly. He let it slam shut as he began running towards the entered the kitchen and saw someone at the refrigerator. He tried to sneak past, but he heard a snarl and turned, hoping to see a dog. It was coming from the refrigerator raider, who was dressed as though he was from the stone age.

It was then that Mr. Hackett lost it. He ran the rest of the way through the house, screaming as he went.

xxxxx

Phil came home to see Curtis sitting in the hallway by the door, with a spear in his lap.

"Curtis, what are you doing?"

The caveman grunted. "Neighbor in cave today."

Phil looked sharply at his pet. "Neighbor, what neighbor? Mr. Hackett? What was he doing in the cave...er, house?"

Curtis stood and imitated the vice principal's running and screaming. Phil's pulse quickened as he asked Curtis why Mr. Hackett had been acting that way. The caveman shrugged, then pointed at himself.

Phil sighed. "We have a problem."


	3. Chapter 3

He didn't tell his parents about Mr. Hackett being in the house, and he asked Curtis to keep it a secret, too. Phil knew that if they found out, his parents, especially his father, would overreact. Phil wanted to have all of the facts before telling them. He wanted to know what, if anything, his vice principal had seen; the only problem was that he wasn't sure how to find out.

The next day at school, Phil felt Mr. Hackett's wary eyes on him the entire morning. As he went from class to class, he could tell the vice principal was watching and following him, as if he knew a lot more about Phil's family than he should. When the lunch bell rang, Phil hurried to the cafeteria to talk to his sister.

"Pim, have you talked to Mr. Hackett?"

She gave him a disdainful glance. "No, I try to avoid the little cueball as much as possible. Why?"

Her brother sighed. "He's been following me all day. Pim, if you never listen to another word I say, that's fine, but listen to me now. Don't say or do anything out of the ordinary. Just...be yourself."

"Why are you telling telling me this?"

Phil turned and started walking away. "You've got to trust me. I don't have time to explain, but go tell Keely to meet me by the restrooms near Mr. Hackett's office in about fifteen minutes."

Phil rounded the corner and ducked into a janitorial closet. He pulled his Wizard out of his pocket and teleported himself home.

xxxxx

Confused, Pim watched her brother leave the cafeteria. She could tell that something was bothering him, but she was having trouble figuring out what. Whatever the problem was, Pim did know that it was big enough that he couldn't get his message to Keely himself.

_Whatever's going on, he acted like it's life or death. He doesn't usually ask me for help, and I don't make a habit of giving it to him, but he sounded really desperate._

It wasn't like her to do something out of kindness, but her brother really seemed like he needed her help. Pim got out of line and went to find Keely.

xxxxx

Like Pim, Keely was confused by Phil's message. As she waited by the restrooms, she tried to figure out what was wrong.

_He was fine yesterday, so something must have happened after he got home from school. Maybe his dad fixed the time machine. But that doesn't make any sense, because then he and Pim wouldn't have been in school today._.

Keely paced in front of the restrooms, trying to figure out why Phil had acted so strangely, but she stopped when she noticed he'd teleported beside her.

"Phil, what happened? Pim said you were acting a little weird." It was then that she realized he wasn't alone. He'd brought Curtis with him. She pointed at the caveman and opened her mouth to speak, but Phil covered it with a hand, placing a finger of his other hand on his own mouth. He slowly pulled both hands away.

"I know," Phil whispered, "I meant to bring him along. Mr. Hackett was in the house yesterday, and he's been watching me all morning. When he was in the house, he saw Curtis, and I need to know what else he saw, so I can tell my parents. If I can use Curtis to help convince Mr. Hackett to keep a lid on whatever he saw yesterday, then my family won't have to run. Will you help me?"

Keely nodded. "What do you need me to do?"

Phil walked the short distance to Mr. Hackett's office, checked the handle, and finding it locked, picked it. "Well, if you don't mind waiting in here with Curtis, I'm going to find Mr. Hackett and tell him I need to talk to him. I'll bring him back here, and with help from you and Curtis, I'll tell him the truth about my family."

Keely entered Mr. Hackett's office, and as Curtis followed her, Phil closed the door and went in search of the vice principal.


	4. Chapter 4

Mr. Hackett was a little wary of letting Phil into his office. He was still trying to process everything he'd seen the day before. He had no idea what any of it meant, and admittedly, he was worried that Phil had something horrible planned for him.

As he unlocked his office door, Mr. Hackett inquired, "It's important, huh?"

Phil nodded. "Extremely."

Pushing the door open, the vice principal reached in and flipped the lights on. Sitting in the chair behind his desk was the man Mr. Hackett had seen in the Diffys' house the day before.

Letting a scream out, Mr. Hackett turned on his heels and began to run. Not expecting that reaction, Phil was unable to to stop his vice principal from getting away. He ran after Mr. Hackett, leaving Keely to momentarily wonder what to do, before deciding to chase after them as well.

xxxxx

Curtis sat alone, with nothing to occupy his time. He recognized the little man from the day before, when the stranger had been where Curtis lived, but now the caveman was in the world of the bald man, and he wasn't sure what to do. Curtis noticed that stuck to the walls were paintings of people, and as he stood to look at them, the chair moved. He was bewildered; the chairs in his home didn't move. Looking at the chair from top to bottom, Curtis saw that there were wheels attached to the legs. He gave the chair a small push with his hands and it moved again. He grunted his approval and decided to try something else. Pushing the chair to the middle of the room and sitting again, Curtis proceeded to use his feet to spin the chair in circles, starting slowly and gradually going faster. His legs soon grew weary and as he stopped and stood, Curtis realized that the room around him was still spinning. He tried to sit but missed the chair and landed on the floor instead.

As the movement around him slowed to a stop, Curtis noticed a boy outside the door, bending over over and looking at something. He watched the boy straighten and walk away, and Curtis saw a metal box coming out of the wall. Along the front was a long narrow button, and attached to the top was something that resembled the Diffys' snake-mouth that made the ground wet.

Curious to see what the box was for, Curtis stood and walked to the door. Remembering what Phil had taught him, he looked both ways before crossing to the other side. He examined the box for a moment, but didn't see anythng that the boy may have wanted to see. Curtis decided to push the button; maybe that would do something.

He bent over the box, as hed seen the boy do, and pushed the button. Water came squirting out of the snake-mouth and splashed all over his face.

Unimpressed with the metal water-box, Curtis retreated into the little man's room and sat on the floor, waiting for Phil to come back and take him home.

xxxxx

Phil and Keely finally found Mr. Hackett, cowering under the bleachers by the football field. He saw the teenagers coming, and he pointed at Phil. "Don't come near me! I knew there was something funny about your family. You have gadgets that do strange things to the world around us, and you're friends with a man from the stone age. I don't know where you're from, but you don't belong here."

Keely looked at Phil, who appeared very nervous. "No, Mr. Hackett, I don't. But if you'll come with me, I'll introduce you to Curtis, then we'll go home and I'll explain everything."

"I don't want any part of it. I'm turning you over to the authorities."

"Mr. Hackett, you can't do that!" Keely exclaimed. "They could be experimented on, or worse!"

"Just come meet Curtis; you'll change your mind, I promise."


	5. Chapter 5

The pair of teenagers brought Mr. Hackett to his office kicking and screaming. They had linked arms with him, and when he tried to run again after seeing Curtis, they were able to stop him from getting away a secong time.

Phil didn't dare leave Mr. Hackett's side. "Curtis, come here. Say hello to Mr. Hackett."

The caveman stood and walked over to the trio. He studied the vice principal for a few moments, then he began to rub Mr. Hackett's bald head.

Mr. Hackett whimpered. Curtis responded quietly. "'S'okay. I, Curtis. You, Hackett. Together, we friends."

"Mr. Hackett, this is my pet caveman. My family and I found him on vacation."

The vice principal's voice quivered as he asked, "Vacation? Where were you headed?"  
Phil glanced at Keely before he answered. "Not where. _When._ We were traveling back in time, starting from 2121, the year we come from. But our time machine broke down, and we've been stuck here ever since."

xxxxx

Mr. Hackett nervously called Pim to his office, and as she entered the room, she was surprised to see Curtis standing there.

"What's the furball doing here?" she asked her brother.

"Never mind that right now. We're taking Mr. Hackett home with us. He needs to get to know our family as we _really_ are."

xxxxx

Mr. Hackett, Curtis, and the Diffys sat around the kitchen table, staring at each other. The vice principal had nervously explained how he'd picked the lock on the front door, and described the things he'd seen in the garage.

Lloyd sat quietly for a moment. "Mr. Hackett, you are one of two people that know our secret; Keely's the other. It IS your decision as to what you do with this information, but we would really appreciate if you kept it quiet."

Barb spoke up. "Despite the fact that we hid this, we have tried to be good neighbors to you. Please, Mr. Hackett, don't tell anyone about us."

The vice principal looked at Keely, who'd been keeping the family's secret for who knew how long. He looked at the caveman, who had been adopted by these people as part of the family. He looked at Phil and Pim, who had integrated themselves into H.G. Wells Jr./Sr. High. He looked at Lloyd and Barb, who were desperate to protect their family.

He looked back at Curtis, someone who didn't belong in this time period but had no way to return tohis own. Here was a prime opportunity for people to learn about the stone age, but what would that mean for Curtis? He would be removed from the only home he knew in this century, be taken away from the people who'd been caring for him, and be stripped of his privacy and dignity.

"Curtis," Mr. Hackett began, "do you have any idea what's going on? I could easily tell somebody to come get you. They would take you away from your home-from your family-and show you off to the world. It would mean you couldn't raid the refrigerator anymore, and it would mean no more walks with Phil. That's what would happen if I tell somebody about you. But if I keep you a secret, things will stay exactly the same as they are right now. Do you trust me to make this kind of a decision, keeping your best interest in mind?"

Curtis looked at Mr. Hackett and began rubbing his head again. "Yes," he replied after a moment.

The vice principal turned his gaze back to Lloyd and Barb as Curtis continued to rub his head. "You can trust me, Mr. and Mrs. Diffy. If for no other reason than for Curtis's privacy, I'll keep your secret."

A wave of relief washed over the Diffys' and Keely's faces. As those around him began offering their thanks for his willingness to keep quiet, Mr. Hackett felt as though he'd just saved a life. He looked again at Curtis, who had begung rubbing his head even faster, with a smile on his face. Mr. Hackett reached up to remove Curtis's hand and attempted to teach him to shake hands. As he sat with the caveman's hand in his, it occurred to Mr. Hackett that maybe, just maybe, he had indeed saved a life.


End file.
